West Side Story (1961)

The feuding families become two warring New York City gangs- the white Jets led by
Riff and the Puerto Rican Sharks, led by Bernardo. Their hatred escalates to a point where neither can coexist with any form of understanding. But when
Riff's best friend (and former Jet) Tony and Bernardo's younger sister Maria meet at a dance, no one can do anything to stop their love. Maria and Tony
begin meeting in secret, planning to run away. Then the Skarks and Jets plan a rumble under the highway - whoever wins gains control of the streets.
Maria sends Tony to stop it, hoping it can end the violence. It goes terribly wrong, and before the lovers know what's happened, tragedy strikes and
doesn't stop until the climactic and heartbreaking ending.

Playground, 110th Street (btw 2nd and 3rd Avenues) Manhattan.

110th Street (btw 2nd and 3rd Avenues) Manhattan.

otsoNY Comments: In 1960 on a cold morning in February, the makers of West Side Story began
filming along Manhattan's West 68th Street. Just beyond where they were filming stood half a block of
boarded tenements destined for demolition which would soon make way for the newly constructed Lincoln Center.
The makers needed a playground area and found an ideal location on 110th Street, just between West and East, and in
the opening sequence of the film, the dancers would jump up on the West Side and come down on the East Side.